BEAR COUNTRY

Skills: Predictive listening; Listening for key information and note-taking

Vocabulary: Parallel expressions

Pre-listening activity
Before you listen, answer these questions:
1. Where is Canada located?
2. What is its capital? (Vancouver / Montreal / Ottawa / Quebec)
3. Odd one out: in each of the following lists, one place is not in Canada. Which is it?
a. Labrador, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon
b. Lake Winnipeg, Lake Michigan, Great Slave Lake, Hudson Bay, Gulf of St Lawrence
c. Seattle, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto
d. Vancouver, Baffin Island, Long Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland

Activity 1: listening practice

Thinking about what to expect (predictive listening)

The following questions are in the form of statements which have to be completed by choosing the
correct answers. Read through the statements and discuss the most likely answers with another
student. Choose one answer which you think is most likely to be correct in each case.

1. Canada is the biggest/second biggest/third biggest country in the world.

2. Canada has a population of 26/66/106 million people.
3. A third of the country is covered by mountains/lakes/forest.
4. Summers in Canada are generally cold/cool/warm.
5. In winters a raincoat/an overcoat/a waistcoat is necessary.
6. A quarter/third/half of all Canadians are French speaking.
7. A million Italians/Greeks/Germans also live in Canada.
8. French is the only official language in the province of Ontario/Quebec/Alberta.
9. Seafood specialities include Pacific salmon/shark/whale.
10. A dessert speciality is apple pie/waffles/cheese served with maple syrup.
11. One thing which is rather expensive is foreign wine/mineral water/beer.
12. The best thing to buy in Canada include gold jewellery/woolen sweaters/chocolates.
13. The unit of currency is the Canadian dollar/franc/pound.

Now listen to some information about Canada in a recording from a telephone information service. As
you listen, look at the questions above again and put a circle around the correct answers. How many
numbers have you got it correct?
Activity 2: Language practice: Alternative words

In the listening practice you have just done, the questions didn’t always use exactly the same words as
the recording. Look at the examples below.

Recording Question

…second in size only to the Soviet Union = second biggest in the world

…it has only 26 million people = it has a population of 26 million

Now find the words used in the questions to express the same meaning as the following extracts from
the recording.

…speak French as their first language = …………

Good buys include…… = …………

This is a very common examination questions where you have to complete notes or true/false
or multiple-choice questions, and it’s important to be ready to recognize key information when
you hear it, even if it’s expressed in a slightly different way from the question.

All the words in column A have a ‘partner’ in column B with a very similar meaning. Find twelve
pairs.

A B

1. Dear unhappy
2. Broad fast
3. Stretch (v) photograph
4. Risky near
5. Dessert expensive
6. Swift erect
7. Enormous extend
8. Fasten wide
9. Miserable sweet (n)
10. Close (adj) huge
11. Upright tie up
12. Shot (n) dangerous
Activity 3: Predicting and listening for key information

Activity 4: Predicting, listening for key information

You’re going to watch a documentary “BYE CANADA - Why Canadians and Immigrants Are Fleeing
The Country”. Complete these following statements based on the information you hear from the
passage.
1. Canada is a rich country which gets its wealth from some vital sectors such as ………..

2. The factor that mainly contributes to the increase of Canada’s population as well as boosts its
economy is ……

3. People from the U.S., especially ……………………, migrate to Canada to search of better life
opportunity.

4. However, there is a trend especially in Ontario that the residents are starting to move to other
cities because ………..

5. The number one reason why Canadians are leaving to other cities or countries is because ……

6. The Canadian government has to increase tax because…………, which in turn makes Canadian
residents want to migrate.

7. Another problem is that although Canada has free health care system, people often can’t get
the health care for free because…….

8. The last reason Canadians move to more affordable cities/countries is that …….